Around Radlett
Karen’s Journey
Local resident Laura Adams is helping to organise a charity cycle ride on Saturday 13 February 2010 in aid of the British Lung Foundation.
A friend of Laura’s, Karen Puddifoot aged 27 years and fellow pupil of Watford Girls’ Grammar School tragically died in a freak storm in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam on September 2009 while cycling around the word to raise money for the BLF. To help continue Karens Journey and participate, or to sponsor the event please contact admin@karensjourney.co.uk, go to www.karensjourney.co.uk or contact Laura on 07814 775101.
Karen Puddifoot tragically died in September 2009 whilst cycling around the world to raise money for the British Lung Foundation. Her family, friends, keen cyclists and supporters of the British Lung Foundation are cycling approximately 50 miles around London to help raise a target of £27,000 for the Charity.
Please see www.karensjourney.co.uk for further details and a link to justgiving.co.uk. Anyone wishing to join us please email admin@karensjourney.co.uk so we may get an idea of participant numbers. Many thanks in advance for your support.
Watford Observer 12th February 2010
Cyclists will pedal across Watford this weekend in memory of three friends who tragically died within six weeks of each other.
Karen Puddifoot, 27, was trekking across south-east Asia with her friend Tim Roney, 21, when the tourist boat they were aboard capsized amid strong storms in September last year.
The pair, joined by Karen’s brother Chris, had previously cycled more than 3,000 miles across Europe and Scandanavia to raise money for the British Lung Foundation, as part of a round-the-world charity cycle trip.
Then in November last year, Chris was killed when the car he was travelling in hit an oncoming vehicle in Hampermill Lane, Oxhey.
Friends of Karen, Chris and Tim have now organised a 33-mile ride across Watford, starting and finishing at the Puddifoot’s family home in Northwood, on Saturday.
More than 30 people are set to take part in the event, which will be doubly poignant as this forthcoming Monday would have been Karen’s 28th birthday.
The bike ride has been organised by Karen’s friends Sarah Patient, Laura Adams and Clare Culverwell. Sarah and Clare met Karen at West Herts College, while Laura knew her at Watford Grammar School for Girls.
And Sarah said they were “inspired by Karen’s determination and enthusiasm and fun-loving nature”.
The route will introduce the cyclists to some of the “key places” in Karen’s life, including Eastbury Farm Primary School, Watford Grammar School for Girls and West Herts College.
They will also pedal past Leavesden Studios and Pinewood Studios, where Karen worked in the props and art department.
Sarah, 27, a trainee clinical psychologist, said: “We just wanted to continue their fundraising efforts. We organised this before Chris passed away and he really wanted to be involved with it. So it’s for all of them.
“Karen was really fun-loving. We’d just always be laughing together. She was so determined and so talented with her artwork. She would always take pictures of what she did at work and she was really proud of the work she did. She was really enthusiastic about everything.”
As well as the bike ride, the group hope to host further events throughout the year with an aim to raise more than £27,000 for the British Lung Foundation – the charity Karen, Chris and Tim were supporting through their own travels.
For more information about the event, visit www.karensjourney.co.uk or to sponsor the cyclists, visit www.justgiving.com/karensjourney.
Watford Observer – 13th February 2010 – Cyclists complete Karen’s Journey across Watford
More than 30 cyclists are taking part in a charity bike ride this morning in memory of three friends who lost their lives last year.
Karen Puddifoot, 27, and Tim Roney, 21, were trekking across south-east Asia when the tourist boat they were aboard capsized amid strong storms of the Vietnamese coast in September last year.
The pair, joined by Karen’s brother Chris, had previously cycled more than 3,000 miles across Europe and Scandinavia to raise money for the British Lung Foundation, as part of a round-the-world charity cycle trip.
Then in November last year, Chris was killed when the car he was travelling in hit an oncoming vehicle in Hampermill Lane, Oxhey.
Friends of the trio continued their fundraising today by taking a bike ride across Watford, starting and finishing at the Puddifoot’s home in Northwood.
The event, called Karen’s Journey, will see bikers speed past many places in Karen’s life, such as Eastbury Farm Primary School, Watford Grammar School for Girls, West Herts College and Leavesden Studios, where she worked in the art and props department.
It is hoped more events will be held later in the year to raise money for the British Lung Foundation.
For more information about the event, visit www.karensjourney.co.uk or to sponsor the cyclists, visit www.justgiving.com/karensjourney.
Watford Observer – Charity art show in Wimbledon in memory of Northwood resident Karen Puddifoot
Friends of Karen Puddifoot, who died while enjoying a round-the-world trip, will host an art exhibition to raise money for the British Lung Foundation.
Karen, 27, and Tim Roney, 21, were cycling across the globe to raise money for the charity when a boat they were on capsized amid strong winds in Halong Bay, off the coast of Vietnam, in September last year.
Karen’s brother Chris, 22, who had also taken part in the cycling trip, died in a car crash two months later.
Now Geraldine O’Reilly, who like Karen is a former student at Wimbledon College of Art, is organising an exhibition to finish the fundraising Karen and Chris, from Northwood, and Tim, from Sarratt, could not complete.
Geraldine and Karen once worked together as prop makers on a Sony Bravia advertising campaign featuring colourful rabbits in New York.
The college has allowed Geraldine to host an exhibition in its gallery space. One wall will display photographs of Karen, while the rest of the room will be filled art work from between 50 and 60 people.
All profits from the sale of the exhibits will be donated to the British Lung Foundation.
Geraldine, 39, from Wimbledon said: “Hopefully we will raise a substantial amount of money. Every penny raised will go to the charity.
“I felt as friends we should pick up the baton and run with it. They didn’t complete their trip or raise the money they set out to raise so we should do that for them.
“It’s about friendship; finishing something for somebody. Hopefully we will have this wonderful exhibition that will celebrate her life and work and all her friends will be there and it will be a fantastic celebration for her.”
The art exhibition will take place from December 9 to 11.
Fantastic news! The film ‘When I Stand On The Moon’, on which Karen was Art Director, has been dedicated to Karen’s memory, and has been entered into 19 film festivals worldwide. See www.oceanskypictures.com for more info.
Family and friends of two cyclists who died on an around-the-world adventure will climb onto their bikes to continue their fundraising challenge.
Tim Roney, from Sarratt, and Karen Puddifoot, from Northwood, tragically drowned when a boat they were aboard capsized in Halong Bay, off the coast of Vietnam in September 2009.
Alongside Karen’s brother Chris, who died in a car crash in November 2009, they had previously pedalled across Europe before travelling to Asia for the second leg of their trip and planned to continue onto Australia and New Zealand.
Throughout their challenge, they were raising money for the British Lung Foundation (BLF) in memory of a school friend who died from a pulmonary embolism in 2007.
Tim’s brother Simon, Karen and Chris’ father Michael, and Tim’s friends Daniel Greaves and Mark Pellowe will now continue fundraising in their memory by cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats in May this year.
They will take just 12 days to complete the 1,000 mile route and hope to raise more than £12,000 for the BLF.
Simon, 25, from The Briar, Sarratt, has previously cycled from London to Brighton but said the group wanted to find the toughest challenge possible.
In training, the group cover more than 75 miles through the Chilterns as they prepare for the event, which will see them ride about 90 miles each day.
Simon said: “I’m feeling good about it. I have not yet tried riding that distance on consecutive days but if I ride in the evening and get up and ride to work, I don’t feel like I don’t want to get on the bike.
“I’m really looking forward to it and seeing some of the countryside. As a group, it really does mean a lot to us to do something together. On our own we might struggle but together we have got a really good bond.”
Friends of Tim and Karen have already completed challenges to raise money for the BLF, including 10km runs, and hosting an art exhibition.
And Simon, who was to cycle with the pair across New Zealand, said he wanted to do something himself to support the charity.
“I wanted to do something,” he said. “We all thought about the London to Paris bike ride but it wasn’t really enough of a challenge. It’s only 300 miles so we decided this would be the event we wanted to do.
“It’s the biggest and best ride you can do in the UK so we thought we would start at the top.
“It’s a good challenge. We will really enjoy it. If Tim had the chance to pick something in this country, he would pick the hardest event possible so we felt we would do the same thing.”
Simon added that the group now hope to complete a challenge every year, with thoughts already turning towards the 24-hour London to Paris bike ride next year.
He also said he still hoped to travel to New Zealand and cycle across both islands as he had planned to do with Tim and Karen.
Cycleopedia, the bike shop where Simon works, and Tim spent five years as an employee, in Merton Road, Watford, is also holding a raffle to raise more money for the charity. Tickets cost £2 each and first prize is a Sirrus Sport bike worth £450. The draw will be made on April 30.
To make a donation towards the cycle challenge, visit uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/thejourneycontinues